Remembrance Day - November 11th

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Every November 11th, Canadians across the country pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who served our country during wartime. We honour those who fought for Canada - in the First World War (1914-1918), the Second World War (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953). More than 1,500,000 Canadians served overseas - more than 100,000 died. They gave their lives and their future so that we may live in peace.

ff1.jpg


In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sorry for the Canadian Slant...but I'm hoping that an American can add to this thread. I'm starting it early...because I'm FREE to do so. :canada:
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Let us honor the Canadians, and all the war dead, on this, and every other day.
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
chcr said:
:usa: umm... We do all realize that that is Veteran's Day in the US???

Yes..I did. That's why I asked for an American to post about their day of remembrance. :D

So...d'you guys wear poppies or something on the days leading up to this unforgeteable day.
 

HomeLAN

New Member
Not really. For some reason, Memorial Day in May gets more attention, but it's a closer match to your Remembrance Day - honoring war dead.
 

markjs

Banned
My Father was a blinded Veteran, my Uncle scarred beyond words in Vietnam, My Grandfather served in WWII.
 

Leslie

Communistrator
Staff member
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It seems like a perfectly reasonable request – a group of veterans in the town of Richmond, Quebec asked their MP to supply free Canadian flags for Remembrance Day. But this is La Belle Province where politics is often neither reasonable nor easy.

Andre Bellavance, the man who represents the riding, is a member of the Bloc Quebecois. And he refused the old soldiers their request, because his party is dedicated to separating from Canada, not unifying it.

Instead, he gave them the number for Heritage Canada, noting he wasn’t against the group having the flags, he just didn’t feel right handing them out.

That’s sent echoes of outrage throughout the country, and nowhere are they reverberating louder than on Parliament Hill. BQ Leader Gilles Duceppe was quick to come to his member’s rescue. “People will receive them if they want them,” he defends. “But we won’t open a shop in our office to distribute Canadian flags.”

The Prime Minister is aghast. “Remembrance Day is a day for all Canadians,” reminds Paul Martin. “It is not a day to play politics.”

Cliff Chadderton, who lost a leg in World War II, agrees. “This fellow is saying to himself ‘sovereignty above all else’. And excuse the French, to hell with what even the French Canadian boys did in World War II.”

Conservative chief Stephen Harper understands the reasons for the Bloc’s existence, but he insists there are exceptions to every rule. “When a vet asks to be served, you serve them,” he contends.

The members of the legion that made the request are more than annoyed. “They do represent us in Ottawa and they are in a federal party and I think it's disgusting that they would take that attitude,” explodes WWII veteran John Hill.

Still, despite the bad feelings, they’ve asked Bellavance to attend their November 11th ceremony, and he’s agreed to be there.
  • The Maple Leaf will also be present in droves. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives have made arrangements to supply all the flags the veterans need.
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GAH! :mad:

I fucking HATE the BLOC.
 

Leslie

Communistrator
Staff member
the cockles of my heart are warm again. :)
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Veterans in Richmond, Quebec got a big flag in the end, but it didn’t come from where they had thought it would. A day after the news broke that Bloc Quebecois M.P. Andre Bellavance refused to provide Canadian flags to the Richmond Legion branch, the veterans there got one of the most special Maple Leafs of all – the one that fluttered atop Parliament’s Peace Tower.

It was delivered personally to La Belle Province by a retired military man, who’s the personal driver for Veterans Affairs Minister Albina Guarnieri. Retired Corporal Mike Fay says the seven-hour round trip was worth it to see the look on the veterans' faces. He says “It came as a complete shock to them.” Fay relates the veterans plan to mount the flag on the wall in the legion with a plaque underneath.

Meanwhile, Guarnieri added to the widespread political outcry that began over the snubbing on Friday. In an interview in Ottawa with Broadcast News, she accused the Bloc Quebecois of dishonouring dead heroes and called Bellavance’s refusal “so disgraceful.”

“There's nothing greater that we can really ask of any Canadian than was asked of our veterans,” Guarnieri said, adding, “when a member of Parliament refuses veterans a flag to honour their dead, it's an insult that really reaches into the grave.”
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linkie
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Yeah Les...that kinda shit happens every year. In Ontario..they're trying to force Legion Halls to 'butt out' - enforcing the No Smoking ban by telling Vets that they'll lose their non-profit status if they don't. All this right before Remembrance Day...of course!

BASTARDS!!!

They're in their 70's and 80's . Let'em smoke 'em if they got 'em.
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
HomeLAN said:
Not really. For some reason, Memorial Day in May gets more attention, but it's a closer match to your Remembrance Day - honoring war dead.


We've got it on the 11th hour or the 11th day of the 11th month. Minute of silence...
 

Leslie

Communistrator
Staff member
poppies.jpg



Remembrance Day


vimy1.jpg

The 29th Battalion, part of the Second Canadian Division, advances into No Man's Land through German barbed wire and heavy fire in the right-centre of the Canadian advance on April 9, 1917. (Courtesy Veterans Affairs Canada).
 

alex

Well-Known Member
Maybe a good time to repost this......



TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Going for a walk at about 10:45...be back at around 11:15.

The memorial isn't all that far...but the weight of all those who were lost to guarantee our freedoms will surely weigh me down as I walk. The walk back will be faster... the weight lifted, knowing that they did not die in vain.
 
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